ELLSWORTH – Fire officials will investigate the cause of a fire early Sunday that heavily damaged a home on Christian Ridge Road.

Initial reports that the fire had been set have not been confirmed, Fire Chief Jonathan Marshall said Sunday.

“Given the circumstances … we just made sure the place was secure until the fire marshal could get in there to investigate,” Marshall said.

The call came in at about 10 minutes before midnight on Saturday. The initial report indicated that the fire had been set and that the owner of the building, Dana Clements, was still inside.

“The building was pretty well involved when we got there,” Marshall said. “The living room was involved and there was heavy fire showing out the front of the building.”

Firefighters searched the building for anyone inside but found no one. They had the fire under control within about 10 minutes and then searched the building again for the owner.

“We do a primary search – a real quick search – while we’re fighting the fire,” Marshall said. “Then we go back and do a more thorough search, looking under things and moving furniture.”

It was during the secondary search of the house that Clements was located outside the building.

According to Marshall, police had been to the home earlier in the day, and there was some indication that Clements had been having some difficulty. After he was located at the fire scene, police took him to Maine Coast Memorial Hospital for an evaluation. There was no word on his condition Sunday.

A second resident of the home, Julianne Sprague, no age available, also was taken to the hospital by ambulance for a prior medical condition. She was later released.

The building was heavily damaged in the blaze and firefighters remained on the scene until about 3:30 a.m. Eighteen firefighters responded to the scene and firefighters from the Lamoine Fire department provide station coverage in Ellsworth during the fire.

An investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office is expected to examine the fire scene today.